Vacation Rentals, Virus Outbreaks and Keeping Your Guests Safe

Vacation Rental Property

If you own a vacation rental property, odds are you’re concerned about how to keep your guests safe in the wake of the new viral outbreak. Vacation rentals are a big concern for the spread of bacteria and pathogens, and for good reason. Vacation houses, cabins, chalets, and cottages are places where people from all over the country and even all over the world come to stay.

Transfer of Germs

Most germs, bacteria, and microorganisms can live outside of a host body for nine to fourteen days. And with a new set of people staying at your vacation home every week or even every few days, the risk of a transfer of germs from your guests into your property and then onto new guests is simply too great.

Guest Sick with a Virus

What happens when a guest comes to stay at your vacation rental, and you find out later that your guest was sick with a virus during their stay?

The Problem – Preventing Infection at Vacation Properties

When lots of people gather in the same place, that is the perfect storm for viral transmissions. And the key here is that they don't all have to gather at that same place at the same time. If guests rent your beach house, cottage, or cabin for one weekend for a big family reunion, if just one of those guests is sick, they could spread their illness not only to all of the guests there at the gathering, but that one guest may also transmit germs into the home that could then pose a risk to the next set of guests as well.

Preventing Contagious People from Staying at your Rental Property?

It is difficult to prevent disease from spreading at vacation rentals. Guests often pick up germs during their travels to your property. They may not even experience illness symptoms until a day or two after they have left. However, just because they are not experiencing symptoms does not mean they are not contagious. Some vacation rental managers are now including health questionnaires as a part of the application and sign-up process for future guests. And that helps, but this alone will not entirely prevent contagious people from staying at your rental.

The Solution – The Best Disinfectant is a Safe Disinfectant

Not sure why your guests were sick, where they got sick, or if they were sick while staying at your rental? Regardless, the socially responsible thing to do is to leave a clean and sanitary place for your next guests to come to. That’s why vacation rental owners must schedule frequent sanitizing and the use of natural disinfectant to clean a domicile between each use.

Hospital Grade Disinfectant

Property owners have the option of using hospital grade disinfectant and to go into a recently rented home and thoroughly clean it before the next guest arrives. Finding the best natural disinfectant or using a nontoxic disinfectant are also options here. But why would you want the risk of potentially exposing yourself to whatever germs your previous guest had? Why risk contracting a disease or picking up bacteria in your rental?

That’s why we say that the best disinfectant is a safe disinfectant. No amount of cleaning and disinfection or use of sporicide, virucide, or sanitizer will fully guarantee a virus-free home without also exposing you or your employees to bacteria, germs, and viruses.

How Using Heat to Kill Germs is the Best Disinfectant for a Home

Do you know someone who’s been sick and who stayed in your vacation house? Heat as a disinfectant will get into places where liquid sanitizers haven’t gotten to. Not only does using liquid products in a contaminated home put one at risk for exposing themselves to bacteria, but such a method of decontamination is not conducive to comprehensive disinfection. Liquid cleaners and sterilizers do not get into all of the nooks and crannies and hard-to-reach areas. It’s difficult to wipe down every square inch of interior space. And last but not least, viruses, bacteria, and other microorganisms can exist by merely floating in the air, making it virtually impossible to decontaminate a rental property on your own.

However, there is one virus prevention method that works well for sanitizing every square inch of your vacation rental property and the air within the home itself. It's called “Heat Treatment.”

All forms of microorganisms are living creatures. Just like humans, they cannot survive in certain temperatures. When unwanted organisms like bacteria and viruses are exposed to temperatures of 130F° to 160F°, the extreme heat breaks down the protein structures that keep such organisms alive. Unable to retain their normal shape and composition, bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens simply disintegrate.

The recent pandemic is taking its toll on vacation property owners. However, with the help of heat as a disinfectant, owners may be able to seek new opportunities during the health crisis and also provide a valuable service in the process.

Offering Vacation Rentals as a “Sick House”

Some property owners are now offering their vacation rentals up as a “sick room” or a “sick house” for people to stay in during quarantine. Owners provide a valuable service by creating an environment that is much more comfortable (and more peaceful) than a hospital room or other residential care facility. At the same time, property owners are taking some of the burden off sick people who do not want to expose their loved ones to their illness. After the guest has completed their two-week quarantine and after they have left the premises, the property owner can hire heat treatment experts to go in and properly decontaminate the space for the next guest.

Safely Disinfecting Your Property with the Help of B.D.D.S.

Attempting to disinfect a home, cabin, chalet, or lake house on your own or having an employee attempt it is risky. Even with a mask and gloves, merely entering an environment where a sick person has stayed presents a danger to your employees. It’s best to leave the task of sanitizing a house to the professionals.

B.D.D.S. manages several teams of highly trained experts who possess the sanitization equipment necessary to disinfect a home for viruses. B.D.D.S technicians can force heat into the entry-room of a home, treat that room, and then move from room to room, safely and effectively clearing each space of germs, viruses, bacteria, and other harmful pathogens. Remember, microorganisms cannot survive for more than a few minutes in a high-heat environment, and B.D.D.S. technicians run their heating equipment for several hours to ensure decontamination.

And last but not least, heat permeates every square inch and every nook and cranny of a home, something liquid cleaners and spray bottle disinfectants simply cannot do.

Size or Type of Dwelling*:The treatment provided is based on the the size, in square feet, of your entire home or business. If you do not know the square footage, enter the street address, city, and state in the fields above and we can look it up.

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